Philadelphia Community Comes Together To Support the Oldest African-American Bookstore after Learning It's Facing Financial Challenges – Financial Juneteenth
Philadelphia Community Comes Together To Support the Oldest African-American Bookstore after Learning It’s Facing Financial Challenges
By Victor Ochieng
When people heard that Hakim’s Bookstore was facing financial challenges that would result in the iconic bookstore being closed down, they delivered an outpouring of support to the store. The store has been in operation since 1959 and is the oldest African-American bookstore in Philadelphia.
Philly.com reported that the owner, Yvonne Blake, has so far received overwhelming support from the community.
The store, which has been family-run since inception, registered great support from social media users, many of whom expressed their support through social media hashtag #BlackBooksMatter. The support that the bookstore has received didn’t only come from within its locality, but also from outside the community.
The Early Birds, which is an online community committed to supporting African-American-owned businesses, was also involved. The community encouraged its membership to visit the bookstore and buy stuff worth at least $20.
With her story and that of her store already posted on social media, many have come forward to volunteer in helping her run the store. One student, Ebonee Johnson of Temple University, discovered that Blake often has to close the store to take care of her ailing mother, and has since volunteered to help the store stay continuously open during operating hours.
That kind of outpouring of support is a clear show that there are indeed good people out there. Blake herself lacks words to describe the kind of support she has received and hopes that the support will extend beyond the holiday season.
“It’s like a dream I don’t want to fully embrace because I don’t want it to end,” she told Philly.com. “It’s been an eye-opener because I thought we were dead and irrelevant. I really thought our time had passed, but I realized that I was living in the past and we have to do things differently if we want to stay around.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help keep the store afloat. The page encourages people to extend their support to the store by either donating money or shopping at the store.
For those who’re within the community and would like to purchase some, you can physically get to Hakim’s Bookstore at 210 S. 52nd St.
Source
Philadelphia Community Comes Together To Support the Oldest African-American Bookstore after Learning It’s Facing Financial Challenges
By Victor Ochieng
When people heard that Hakim’s Bookstore was facing financial challenges that would result in the iconic bookstore being closed down, they delivered an outpouring of support to the store. The store has been in operation since 1959 and is the oldest African-American bookstore in Philadelphia.
Philly.com reported that the owner, Yvonne Blake, has so far received overwhelming support from the community.
The store, which has been family-run since inception, registered great support from social media users, many of whom expressed their support through social media hashtag #BlackBooksMatter. The support that the bookstore has received didn’t only come from within its locality, but also from outside the community.
The Early Birds, which is an online community committed to supporting African-American-owned businesses, was also involved. The community encouraged its membership to visit the bookstore and buy stuff worth at least $20.
With her story and that of her store already posted on social media, many have come forward to volunteer in helping her run the store. One student, Ebonee Johnson of Temple University, discovered that Blake often has to close the store to take care of her ailing mother, and has since volunteered to help the store stay continuously open during operating hours.
That kind of outpouring of support is a clear show that there are indeed good people out there. Blake herself lacks words to describe the kind of support she has received and hopes that the support will extend beyond the holiday season.
“It’s like a dream I don’t want to fully embrace because I don’t want it to end,” she told Philly.com. “It’s been an eye-opener because I thought we were dead and irrelevant. I really thought our time had passed, but I realized that I was living in the past and we have to do things differently if we want to stay around.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help keep the store afloat. The page encourages people to extend their support to the store by either donating money or shopping at the store.
For those who’re within the community and would like to purchase some, you can physically get to Hakim’s Bookstore at 210 S. 52nd St.
Source
